Editor's note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Kimberly Garrido said she ducked down below the window inside a pickup truck in early January 2021, fearing a member of her Arizona church would see as she made her escape.
Garrido, who was 21 at the time, knew leaving Golden Dawn Tabernacle in Tucson meant she would probably never get to see her parents again. But she said that was a better option than staying in the ultra-conservative Christian church. She wanted more out of life than being a wife.
"You don't really have any options as women," Garrido said of her time in the fringe church. "Just get married or live with your parents forever.
"I didn't want that," she said. "I wanted the freedom to be able to do what I wanted to do, make my own money, dress how I want ... wear makeup and heels, have a phone and not be scared."
So she penned a note to her parents, gathered a few belongings she had hidden in her room and waited to be picked up by former church member Andrew Loza. Loza and his wife support young people who want to leave Golden Dawn by giving them financial support and a place to stay. Believe The Sign, a website that supports ex-members of the sect, connected Garrido with Loza after she reached out for help.
Loza said seeing Garrido curled up in the back seat of his truck demonstrated the power Golden Dawn has over its members. He and 19 former members say the authoritarian church has devolved into a "cult."
Golden Dawn is one of the most extreme churches in a fringe Christian sect called "The Message." The faith has millions of followers worldwide, according to a rough estimate from an organization called Voice of God Recordings. Former Message women across the U.S. reported that their religious beliefs caused them to be oppressed: They report being married at 18 or 19 and barred from getting jobs or an education. Ex-Message followers Sarah Kiser, LeAnn Gremillion and Fumiko Tipping said their churches treated them and other women like "second-class citizens."
"I'm female, and I spent 28 years in a male supremacy cult," said former Message believer Leslie, who attended churches in Georgia and Florida. "I just sat there, and I said, 'Amen!' to everything they said."
More than a dozen women said the deep-rooted sexism in Message churches from Arizona to North Carolina created toxic environments where they experienced marital abuse, degrading comments, coercive sex, sexual assaults, victim blaming and ostracization for cutting their hair or wearing pants.
"My family disowned me because I told them that I wore pants," said Kiser, who used to attend a Message church in Arkansas.
Women in The Message must wear long skirts and other modest attire so they do not tempt men to lust. In most churches, they can never cut their hair, do their makeup, wear high heels or paint their nails. Sometimes, they say, they are blamed for men's sins. Many churches teach women to obey and be submissive to their husbands. Multiple women reported being taught their bodies belonged to their husbands and that they must have sex with their spouses even if they did not want to.
Not all Message churches are the same. Some have views on women that are more similar to mainstream Christianity: They uphold some traditional gender roles, but those beliefs do not rise to the level of women feeling subjugated or controlled by men. These more modern Message churches believe women are more nurturing than men, but still encourage women to have jobs and get an education. They discourage both men and women from showing too much skin because they value modesty. They think women are different from men but not inferior.
Message followers believe that the more than 1,200 recorded sermons of their prophet, the late Rev. William Branham, came from God. But Branham's sermons contain misogynistic rhetoric and doctrine.
Branham preached in 1965 that "an immoral woman" is lower than a "hog," "filthy," deceptive, designed by Satan and nothing more than a "human sexual garbage can." Branham talked about how when women sin, they get beaten with "boards," "rails" and "barrel slats." Branham barred women from becoming ministers. He taught that God made women "for one place, the kitchen."
Branham's son, Joseph Branham, said in an email that his father was "not against women at all" but against "sin" and "vulgarity" in both men and women. Joseph Branham continues his father's ministry through the nonprofit organization Voice of God Recordings. He declined a formal interview but answered questions via email.
"William Branham's teachings, which were exactly in line with Scripture, have also been misjudged as misogynistic statements towards women," Joseph Branham said in an email. "Jesus is not responsible for those who misquoted His Word, and if there are those misusing His teachings, or misusing William Branham's teachings, to justify abuse towards women, or to start a cult, or to take authoritarian control over their congregations, I feel it is a shame and disgrace, and truly a stain on Christianity."
Douglas Weaver, a professor of religion at Baylor University who wrote a book on the history of Branham's ministry, wrote that Branham's later sermons are characterized by "extremist views on women," particularly modern and immoral women.
"(Branham's) misogyny to me is dangerous. Maybe that's a strong word, but I'm a strong affirmer of equality of male and female," Weaver said in an interview. "It's that movement that says that misogyny is the word of God -- I think that's dangerous."
'Restore the patriarchy'
Golden Dawn Tabernacle pastor Isaac Noriega, who leads the Tucson church Garrido escaped from, told his congregation he agrees with the Taliban's restrictions on women, former church member Zoe Cordova said. The church's formal name is Tabernaculo Emanuel. The Taliban has barred women from getting an education past the 6th grade and going out in public without male guardians or Islamic headscarves, according to the Associated Press.
"Isaac is a complete extremist. I will tell you something that has haunted me forever," Cordova said. "He told the whole congregation that 'The Taliban had it right.'"
In an interview, Noriega denied praising the Taliban: "I never mentioned the Taliban in church. Never," he said.
Jason DeMars, a Message minister at Bethel Tabernacle in South Carolina, advocated for similar restrictions on women's rights on social platform X in November 2023.
"Women should not be allowed to vote," DeMars said in a Nov. 7 post. "Women should not be allowed in politics. Women should not work on the police force or military."
DeMars also wrote: "Unmarried women should not go in public without a proper chaperone."
DeMars is not the main pastor at Bethel Tabernacle but has delivered some messages from the pulpit, according to the church's Facebook page. DeMars has spread The Message on missionary trips in the Middle East and started a podcast on how to live life according to Branham.
In a December 2023 podcast episode about how the U.S. should "restore the patriarchy," DeMars said he learned these kinds of views from Branham. DeMars reads a passage from a book that Branham wrote: "'God showed me that women began to be out of their place with the granting of the vote. Then they cut off their hair, which signified that they were no longer under the authority of a man, but insisted on equal rights, or in most cases, more than equal rights. She adopted men's clothing and went into a state of undress. ... With this vision, I saw the terrible perversion and moral plight of the whole world.'"
Branham said in 1956 that a woman is the "weaker vessel," so DeMars argues that women shouldn't sign documents or make decisions without approval from their fathers or husbands. DeMars says it's "not scriptural" for a girl to pursue an education or career, which is in line with Branham's teaching that women should stay in the kitchen.
'Subject to men'
Former Golden Dawn Tabernacle member JoAnn Malena, 44, has an 8th-grade education and no work history aside from cooking, cleaning and caring for her children. She told the judge during her November 2023 divorce that it was "satanic" for her to travel or work -- activities she said she now finds happiness in.
"It's satanic for you to have a job?" Pima County Superior Court Judge Lisa Abrams asked during the trial.
"Yes, your honor. It's satanic for me to have friends. It's satanic for me to think for myself, for me to stand up for myself," Malena said. "The women there are subject to men. You're subject to your husband and your pastor."
"What do you mean by that?" Abrams said.
"You don't make decisions for yourself. It's either done by your husband or the pastor," Malena said. "I have been scolded for using the words 'I feel' and 'I think.'"
Noriega said he preaches scriptures that support the idea of women needing to be under the headship, or authority, of men, but he claimed that women make their own decisions and gave one example of a woman in his church who lives independently with no headship.
Similarly, Kiser said she was not allowed to leave her parents' home until she married in 2017 because she needed to be under the "headship," or authority, of a man at all times.
Phoenix resident Joyce Lefler dreamed of becoming a doctor, but her Message father told her to turn down her college scholarships. She had to obey.
Instead of going to college, Lefler got married at 19 in 1972.
North Carolina resident and former Message believer Bonnie, who asked to be identified by her first name only, said she also turned down college scholarships in 1997.
"I could have had a career, but I didn't choose the career because Brother Branham told me that's not what women do," Bonnie said.
Rebekah LaFontaine, the pastor's wife at Literal Life church in Petersburg, Michigan, said that does not represent The Message as a whole. Most women in her Michigan church work. LaFontaine is a business owner and has worked as a physician recruiter and account manager.
She said she's "never felt squelched." Other women at Literal Life are teachers, nurses, business administrators, florists and journalists. Her church does not believe women are less than men, she said.
"You may find some out there that says, yeah, it's every woman's fault, and women are the lesser, the weaker vessel, and women are less and all of that," LaFontaine said. "You may find somebody out there that believes that, but just because they believe that does not mean that we do."
Another Branham doctrine that treated men and women unequally was his 1965 teaching that a man can divorce and remarry as long as his new wife is a virgin. Women, however, can never remarry, Branham preached.
Kiser said women in her Arkansas church became trapped in abusive marriages because they didn't want to be single for the rest of their lives.
Jennifer Hamilton, 39, who attended Message churches in Arkansas and Michigan, said her mom raised her alone as a single mother. The church never allowed her mother to remarry because of that doctrine, while men who had affairs could remarry as many times as they wanted "as long as they said God told them," Hamilton said. Kristi Gibson said the same happened to her mother-in-law at their Message church in Florida.
Message churches Literal Life and Church of the Open Door in New Albany, Indiana, do not follow that practice, the pastors said. Remarried women and men are part of their congregations. Literal Life spokesperson Jared Meade said they don't support divorce but acknowledge that some situations, such as abuse, can make marriages "no longer viable." Neither church believes it's OK for a man to divorce and remarry many times, they said.
Words as 'a weapon'
Voice of God Recordings spokesperson Jeremy Evans acknowledged the varying interpretations of Branham's sermons. But he said misinterpretations would be resolved if people listened to whole segments or sermons from Branham's tapes to get context.
"There's a lot of negative out there," Evans said. "But just go back to exactly what he said."
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Leslie said her ex-husband would quote Branham's exact words around the house to belittle her. She said her ex would tell her she was "designed by Satan" and "lower than hogs and dogs," ideas Branham preached. Leslie asked to be identified by only her first name because she fears retaliation from her ex-husband.
"(Branham) said when you're serving your husband you're serving the Lord. So (my ex-husband) would tell me, 'Go get me this. Go get me that. Do this. Do that.' He wanted me to wait on him," Leslie said. "He used the Bible and he used The Message as a weapon against me."
Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team asked Evans what he thinks about a husband using a Branham sermon to demean his wife. Evans said he thinks that's shameful, and Branham never would have supported it. Branham said in 1956 that a man's wife is "not a doormat, now; she's your sweetheart," Evans pointed out.
Leslie said that's not what her ex-husband took away from the tapes. He internalized all the "terrible things Branham said about women," she said.
"My ex believed because of (Branham's) teachings that it was OK to treat me like crap," Leslie said. "So that's the result. Even if William Branham didn't specifically advocate calling your wife the worst words in the English language."
'It's her fault'
Tipping, who was raised in Message churches in Arizona and Michigan but left several years ago, said from a young age she felt her body was "poisonous" because of Branham's sermons.
Branham taught that women are to blame for men's lust -- a sin that's equivalent to committing adultery in one's heart and could send someone to hell. He said women are just as guilty of adultery when they dress immodestly.
"As soon as you start to develop in any kind of a way physically, having to be under pressure of like OK now not only are you responsible for your own trip to hell, you're also responsible for every man who ever looks at you and his likelihood of going to hell," Tipping said.
Cordova said she once wore a skirt just above her ankle at Golden Dawn Tabernacle in Tucson, and the pastor's brother refused to shake her hand. "I don't greet prostitutes," he told her. She was about 17.
"It really messes with you. I do believe in modesty," Cordova said. "But it takes you to the point where you think that you're a garbage can and you're the reason why men are lusting, and you're the reason why that man is going to go to hell. They believe that every single bad thing that happens on Earth a woman caused it somehow."
Cordova said she loves being a homemaker and doesn't consider herself a feminist, but she's against her pastor's hatred toward women. Pastor Noriega preaches that every time congregants hear a police or ambulance siren, it's because of something a woman did, Cordova said. Similarly, Branham said, "an ambulance can't ring unless a woman caused it."
Garrido said Noriega even went so far as to blame women for getting raped.
"'Oh, if a woman gets raped, it's her fault,'" she remembers Noriega preaching. "'She's in the wrong place or she's by herself or wearing a short skirt, and it's her fault.'"
Noriega said that accusation is "unequivocally false." "I have never preached that," he added.
LeAnn Gremillion, 46, grew up in Message churches in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Antioch, Tennessee. Gremillion said she experienced victim blaming firsthand when she was 19.
Gremillion said a 17-year-old member of her Tennessee church was giving her a ride one day when he coerced her into performing oral sex after she repeatedly said no. The 17-year-old told her he knew she had been sexual with her previous boyfriend, and that knowledge was causing him to lust.
"He ended up pulling over the car and said, 'I'm not going to move this car until you do it,'" Gremillion said. "And I sat there for a while, and eventually I did."
Looking back on the incident now, Gremillion said she would consider it sexual assault.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, sexual assault includes "forcing a victim to perform sexual acts," and "force doesn't always refer to physical pressure. Perpetrators may use emotional coercion, psychological force or manipulation."
The whole church found out what happened, and the pastor blamed Gremillion for getting sexually assaulted, she said.
"The preacher approached me and basically told me that he would never be a pastor of 'a thing like me,'" Gremillion remembers.
Gremillion said she puts more blame on the church than the teenage boy, who later apologized and took responsibility for his actions. "The boys in our church were just as misinformed and confused as the girls," she said.
'Marital coercion'
Five women said Branham's misogynistic teachings seeped into their marriages and helped create abusive environments. In their role as head of the house, the husbands felt they should be able to control their wives. Sex became an obligation, most of the women said.
Both Bonnie and Kiser got married at 18 to older men. Bonnie said a few years into her 1998 marriage her husband told her the only way he would stop cheating on her was if she had sex with him twice a day, every day. So she did.
"I just laid there and cried," Bonnie said of their daily intercourse. "You feel raped at that point."
Bonnie asked to be identified by only her first name because she feared her ex-husband would retaliate by refusing to pay child support or taking her to court to seek custody of her teenage daughter.
Kiser, who married in 2017, said her first husband would "badger and badger and badger" her until she would finally give in and have sex.
"For me, it was coerced consent or marital coercion," Kiser said. "Because we were taught that a woman's body doesn't belong to her ... and you're supposed to have sex with your spouse even if you don't want to."
Leslie, who is now in her 60s, needed her husband's permission to go to the doctor. She had a congenital malformation of her hymen that blocked the opening of her vagina and prevented her from having sex. But when she was 19 and newly married, her husband insisted on having intercourse despite her severe pain. He didn't let her go to the doctor for the condition for six months, she said.
"The Message gave him authority over my body, and he used it," Leslie said. "It was very coercive sex. ... It was super traumatic."
Within two weeks of getting married, Lefler said her husband raped her and beat her, abuse that continued throughout their marriage.
Bonnie said her ex-husband would push her and spit in her face when he yelled. Leslie said her ex-husband would trap her in painful wrestling holds and deprive her of sleep, and once knocked her head into a car window. Kiser said her ex-husband once grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the couch.
"'He gets mad and yells at me, like screams at me, and throws things, and is just generally terrifying,'" Kiser remembers confiding in her assistant pastor. "'He's even put his hands on me at a couple of points.'
"'That's a normal man,'" the pastor told her.
Leslie had a different experience: Her Florida pastor supported her and helped give her the courage to divorce her abusive husband, she said. She still ended up leaving The Message because she started having panic attacks in church.
Malena said she was hospitalized in February 2023 for a mental breakdown from the stress of the church and her toxic marriage. She said she has attempted suicide three times. She has sought treatment for depression, anxiety, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"She's been raised in fear of everything including her voice," her therapist wrote in a letter to the court.
Anxieties linger
Women in less strict Message churches say the misogyny they experienced was still damaging.
Both Tipping and Hamilton spent some time attending Literal Life, the church in Michigan where most women have jobs.
Hamilton felt "very lucky" after college to land a job in her field as an X-ray technician at Michigan Hospital. But her work attire didn't align with her religious beliefs.
"I ended up leaving the field because I had to work in surgery and wear surgery scrubs, which are pants," Hamilton said. "I was constantly condemned for doing it. It just gave me so much anxiety that I finally ended up quitting."
Tipping said she and other girls were shamed for their clothes at a summer camp for Literal Life and other Message churches. Church leaders duct taped girls' skirts together if they had a split and berated girls from the pulpit for letting their shirts get wet during water sports, Tipping said.
When Tipping first left The Message, small changes to her appearance that broke church rules "petrified" her. She would get sweats and tremors from leaving her house with painted toenails, she said.
It took Tipping a long time to unlearn the teaching that she should be subordinate to her husband.
"It's also massive realizing that your whole life has kind of been in a perspective of, well there's God, and then there's my husband and then there's me somewhere down here," Tipping said.
Hamilton said she and her husband have worked with therapists to restructure their marriage and redefine the roles of husband and wife, but they're stronger for it. She works in the tech startup industry in San Diego.
She said she has her own voice now and wants to help other Message women find theirs. Hamilton started a website called the Casting Pearls Project to create a space for ex-Message women to share stories of recovery.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel," Hamilton said. "It's dark when you leave, and it's very hard the first couple of years. But every year gets better and better, and you'll just begin to have the world open to you, and possibilities open to you, and experiences that you never thought you'd be able to have that just help you grow as a person. I just want to encourage people that it is possible."
Contact reporter Emily Hamer at [email protected] or 262-844-4151. On Twitter: @ehamer7
Contact columnist Tim Steller at [email protected] or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @timothysteller
In this Series Twisted Message: A prophet's unchecked global sect 4 mins ago Women report widespread misogyny in churches tied to religious group 'The Message' 15 updates Next Stay up-to-date on what's happening
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